1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image-effect techniques and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus for digital image effects.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a part of the digital revolution, many users have come to enjoy services on the Internet from personal computers and portable telephones. Now, the digital revolution is spreading to broadcast services and movies, including digital satellite broadcasts. Thus, a barrier that had previously existed between broadcasting and communications is quickly beginning to disappear. Moreover, as broadband communications grow, multimedia content and culture will experience significant development, and, as a part of this multimedia culture, the distribution of video or motion pictures will become a key technology.
When humans acquire information from the outside world, images are capable of conveying much more information than audio. Besides being used for entertainment and recreational purposes, it is believed that images will also serve as a vital part of a software infrastructure which will support a wide range of aspects of human life and culture. As images are used more and more in a digital form, image-effect technology will expand into many fields with additional applications in computer graphics (CG) and image processing technologies.
Various image effects have been proposed and used in image processing. For example, known effects include slow motion, walk-through, multi-viewpoint image, special filtering, pseudo stereoscopic vision and so forth. However, many of these effects require expensive equipment that may be difficult to operate or require extensive human input or provide only low quality output. As the importance of images grows in the future, it is important that these and other image effects be provided with efficiency, cost-effectiveness and improved quality.